The invention relates to a semiconductor component with an electromagnetic shielding device including a semiconductor chip with a circuit integrated therein with a number of electrical terminal areas (bonding pads) and at least one ground terminal area. The semiconductor component also includes a package, which contains the semiconductor chip, the package comprising a chip carrier with a number of external terminals and at least one external ground terminal. The semiconductor component also includes connecting means, with which the electrical terminal areas and ground terminal areas are electrically connected to the external terminals and external ground terminals.
A known semiconductor component, for example, is U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,837. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,837, a semiconductor component is shown, there in particular a dynamic semiconductor memory (DRAM), for which a solution is provided to the problem of “soft errors”, that is, malfunctions occurring within the memory circuit as a result of so-called α radiation.
These malfunctions are therefore caused by α radiation being released by atoms which are released in the package, in particular, in the plastics compound used for the package. This release may take place on the one hand because radioactive atoms that emit α radiations as a consequence of natural radioactivity are incorporated in the plastics package compound. It may also be, however, that the compound for the package is sensitive to so-called cosmic radiation.
Semiconductor components, in particular integrated circuits, are very sensitive to radioactive radiation, that is, with respect to α radiation, β radiation and high-frequency electromagnetic radiation. This sensitivity can lead to serious problems, because failures or malfunctions in highly complex integrated circuits can have serious consequences.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,837, the problem of these “soft errors” in integrated circuits, caused by electromagnetic or radioactive radiation, was countered by the semiconductor chip in the package being surrounded by a thick polyimide layer. The polyimide layer represents an effective shield, at least with respect to α radiation. However, it does not represent an effective shield with respect to high-frequency electromagnetic radiation or with respect to β radiation.
Furthermore, the use of thick polyimide layers in the case of semiconductor components packaged by wire bonding technology is unsatisfactory, because the thick polyimide layers greatly restrict the possibilities in wire bonding. This is because very large openings have to be left in the polyimide layers to allow the bonding wires to be applied to the terminal areas lying underneath them.
Furthermore, it is known to introduce into the packages of semiconductor components metal plates or metal meshes, which shield the enclosed semiconductor component with respect to electromagnetic radiation and with respect to radioactive radiation in the manner of a “Faraday cage”. However, this procedure is extremely complex in production engineering terms, and is consequently very cost-intensive.